Unit 1 Globalization

О.Г. Королькова, Е.Г. Сосновская

Market Сhallenger

Сборник дополнительных текстов для чтения

По тематике Market Leader для студентов 1 и 2 курса

Учебное пособие

ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВО

САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГСКОГО ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО УНИВЕРСИТЕТА

ЭКОНОМИКИ И ФИНАНСОВ

Королькова О.Г., Сосновская Е.Г. Market Challenger. Сборник дополнительных текстов для чтения по тематике Market Leader для студентов 1 и 2 курса: Учебное пособие. – СПб.: СПбГУЭФ – 2004.

Пособие представляет собой сборник статей по экономической тематике, связанной с учебником Market Leader и имеет цель углубить знания студентов по обсуждаемым темам, расширить их словарный запас. Предназначено для студентов и преподавателей.1 и 2 курса

Рецензенты:

Предисловие

Настоящий сборник содержит дополнительный материал для чтения на английском языке, отвечающий тематике УМК Market Leader Intermediate.

К каждому из текстов предлагается ряд вопросов для обсуждения, а также упражнения для запоминания лексического материала. Кроме того, на рассмотрение предложены задания, ориентированные на формирование коммуникативных умений (Up to you), призванные активизировать речемыслительную деятельность студентов.

При составлении данного сборника были использованы работы зарубежных специалистов, а также материалы некоторых Интернет-сайтов. Данные сайты указаны после каждой темы как Links и служат рекомендуемыми ссылками при изучении той или иной темы

Unit 1 Globalization

Globalization of markets and production. “Global village”

A fundamental thing is happening in the world economy. Some authors call it global shift to identify the change. We are witnessing the globalization of markets and production. We are moving away from an economic system in which national markets are separate, isolated from each other by trade barriers and barriers of distance, time and culture, toward a system in which national markets are uniting into one huge global marketplace. Thus, in many industries it is no longer meaningful to talk about the “ German market”, “the American market”, or the “Japanese market”; there is only one “global market”. The global acceptance of Coca-Cola, Levi’s jeans, Sony Walkmans, exemplifies this trend.

As for the globalization of production, individual firms are spreading parts of their production process to various locations around the globe to take advantage of national differences in the cost and quality of production factors (e.g. Labor, energy, land, capital). Such corporations are called transnational corporations (TNCs).

There are two major factors that work toward globalization of markets and production. The first is the decline in barriers to the free flow of goods, services, and capital that has occurred since the end of World War II. The second factor is the dramatic development in communication, information, and transportation technologies in the same period. The most important innovations here are commercial jet aircrafts and superfreighters as well as the introduction of containerization, which greatly simplifies transshipment from one mode of transport to another.

As a result of the technological innovations, the real costs of information, commercial jet aircraft and communication have fallen dramatically in the last two decades. This has made it possible for a firm to manage a globally spread production system. The same technological innovations have also facilitated the globalization of market. The Internet and the WWW facilitate the creation of truly global electronic marketplaces for products from software to bulldozers. In addition, low-cost jet travel has resulted in the mass movement of people between countries. This has reduced the cultural distance between countries and is bringing about some convergence of consumer tastes and preferences. At the same time, global communications network and global media are creating a worldwide culture. In any society the media are primary conveyors of culture; as global media develop, we must

expect the evolution of something like a global culture. A logical result of this evolution is the emergence of global markets for consumer products.

On the other hand, we must be careful not to overemphasize this trend. While modern communications and transport technologies are creating the “global village”, very significant differences remain among countries in culture, consumer preferences, and the ways in which business is conducted.

1.Give equivalents to the following words. Learn them.

Труд/ схожесть потребительских вкусов предпочтений / отгрузка товаров с одного судна на другое/ свободное движение товаров/ торговые барьеры/ производство/ глобальный рынок/ воспользоваться преимуществом / земля/ вызывать/всемирная культура / капитал/

2.Answer the questions:

What is TNC?

How do you understand the words “global shift” of economy?

Name the major factors of production.

Why do companies spread parts of their production process to various countries?

What innovations help to lower barriers of time and distance?

Explain the words “global culture”. How do you understand it? Give examples.

Up to you…

You work for a successful Russian corporation. You are going to enter European market, but at that very moment you are told that the name of your company sounds offensive in Spanish. What would you do? Change the name of your company? Leave it as it is? Compromise? Give up the whole idea? Give your reasons.

Links

You can read more articles on current issues and participate in a forum if you visit globalization.com or globalizationabout.com

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